The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! š
allisonmalakowsky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Incest, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Confinement, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
_marjolaine_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gore, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Child abuse
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Grief, Suicide, Self harm, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Incest and Rape
stardustvein's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Torture, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Grief, Confinement, Physical abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Incest, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pandemic/Epidemic, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, and Panic attacks/disorders
chemicallykat's review against another edition
1.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Gore, Incest, Medical content, Murder, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence
shetland_pone's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
- Clayton's hand falling off like a lizard's tail and groping Luke.
- That moment when the scientist guy described his raging boner and mentioned how even his kinky ex couldn't make him that hard.
- The hand then sprouting another 7 hands and then spider scuttling over to a keypad and opening a door.
- Pretty much everything involving the bees.
- Clayton having an Einstein poster to cover up the hole.
- Luke dragging Clayton's unconscious body through a tunnel while being chased by a giant maggot with the heads of his mother, ex-wife, and missing son.
- Toy basically being flattened by the research station and 8 miles worth of water, except slowly.
- The two dogs being fused together and sucked through a supernatural sparkly goo hole while Luke cried his eyes out.
I literally just laughed at these moments.
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence
noelle1121005's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
2.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Rape, Animal cruelty, and Gore
graveyardreads's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Rape
versmonesprit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.25
And to say I hate this book with a passion is still not enough to convey my animosity towards it.
For one thing, itās about 10 times longer than it should have been. It tries to be too many things, none of which Craig Davidson is skilled enough to write well, but by the end it becomes clear it tried to be eldritch horror the most. The reason Lovecraftās stories (yes he was a horrendous person, but he was a horrendous person who wrote well) work is because he doesnāt try to drag them out. Some are longer, sure, but the madness works because the pace is right, and the creatures feel dreadful because - you guessed it - the pace is right. This sort of cosmic horror does not work as a novel.
And it surely doesnāt work at all in the hands of someone as unskilled as Davidson. It didnāt even seem like he had any idea what the story would involve and where itād go: there was too much going on, far too much back story, far too much info-dump and exposure for the actual story to even be compelling. The story, the narration, the characters literally went around in circles, had the same conversations, did the same things, and kept pausing the main story to build back stories which quickly became enraging.
Then thereās the chapter structure. Theyāre far too short, because Davidson cuts the action randomly to separate it into multiple chapters. It makes no sense. This too becomes enraging immediately.
My favourite part about this āSci-fiā is how factually wrong the simplest things are: the largest insect our vet MC has ever seen is a thumb-length mantis, which is actually small for mantises; a treeās leaves are likened to veins; thereās a 15 hour difference between Guam and Iowa but somehow in the book itās late afternoon in Guam when itās 5 am in Iowa; Davidson alleges only mentally ill boys have TMHA in their sweat; cancer is called a pathogenā¦ Donāt involve scientific facts in your book if youāre not going to get them right! You donāt have to root your book in the real world; and if you canāt, donāt force it! Weād have been fine without all these details too!
The first part of the book is dedicated to exploring a pandemic that Davidson made up. This is not only annoying as it prevents the book from getting to the actual plot; itās also hilarious to read after having been in a pandemic, because weāve all seen people (hell, whole countries) do not take it remotely serious enough. Anyway, if you think this sickness must be crucial to the story since so much space is given to it, NO. Not at all. Itās just one of the elements Davidson threw in because he wanted to write too many stories at once.
The characters are atrocious, the back story tangents are too often not to be angry at them, the narration is choppy (hereās an actual quote: āThe gas station had been empty. The pumps were shut off. The door to the convenience store was open. The aisles were shadowy in the late afternoon.ā), and for all this, the book isnāt even atmospheric! You would think that a book set under the ocean would have some waterlogged atmosphereā¦ you would be wrong, because Davidson keeps describing this setting through allusions to space and caves, completely destroying the chance to create a unique atmosphere.
I was going to say something nice about one chapter, but my issues with Davidson took a more serious turn so Iām not giving him any credit for anything. Itās been a while since I was this genuinely creeped out by a man. Iām not exaggerating. Instead of saying āa childās giggleā like any non-creep would say, Davidson says āa prepubescent giggle.ā If this isnāt enough to paint a perverted picture of the author, he also likens the way a dog rounds a corner to the movements of a āshowgirl.ā And no, the book isnāt a first person narration, so these are not the sick impressions of a perverted character.
And no, itās not even over. The sheer amount of needless, gratuitous cruelty and violence against animals in this book is repulsive. No one who doesnāt revel in such imagery would write these scenes. This is beyond the cheap trick of books and movies killing off dogs when they know they canāt create tension through good writing; these are indulgent descriptions of animal abuse.
Iād love to write a better review, or at least tie it up, but thinking this much about the book has once again given me a headache out of fury. This is one of the most boring books Iāve ever made myself suffer through.
Oh and ā there are extensive descriptions of a myriapod.
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Incest
kkalicky94's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Medical content, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Rape, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Incest
tormlen's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
That aside, parts of this book moved fast, and I couldn't put it down. I loved the setting. The story was engaging. I actually don't mind that the 'gets is abandoned once they board the Trieste. The disease is part of the bait. Some of the imagery in this book is very creepy and strong. However, be prepared as they can also be pretty disturbing.Ā
The weakest part of this book is probably the characters. Other than Luke, everyone feels pretty flat. Despite this flatness, Al is actually the only human character I liked. Of course, the dog is also endearing, but that's kind of a cop out. What happens to the dog was horribly sad. I almost cried.
I know a lot of people love this book, and I can partially understand why. The scare factor is really high, the writing (when not fat-shaming) is decent, and the story was really engaging. I actually did not guess the ending, so that's cool. I would be willing to read more by this author, especially if he can actually write diverse body types in a way that does not feel demonizing.
Graphic: Rape, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Fatphobia, Incest, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death
Minor: Eating disorder
The eating disorder is implied and horribly written. While the character's behavior pattern could be symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder, it's never explicitly said and feels extremely unrealistic. I would be shocked if the author actually researched Binge Eating Disorder much at all.